


now the lights are off.

by flying_squirrel



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 08:01:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14807445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flying_squirrel/pseuds/flying_squirrel
Summary: momo and mina and their precious simple memories.





	now the lights are off.

**Author's Note:**

> _“and in those memories if you are there, that is enough.”_

 

-

They meet on a Monday.

Her roommate Nayeon introduces them when they bump into each other as she exits the library while Nayeon and Momo are about to enter.  One glance and she can’t believe that Nayeon is as unaffected as she looks when her roommate grasps the girl’s wrist, and smiles.  Instead, it is Momo who gets distracted for a moment; too busy staring at the girl’s pretty face dotted with beauty marks that Momo wanted to spend time counting (and maybe kissing).  She is only shaken out of her reverie when the girl’s quiet laughter tinkles in her ears.  

The stranger in front of her is definitely as beautiful as Momo is weak to pretty girls so naturally, she pokes Nayeon discretely as the older girl carries conversation with the girl about their apparently mutual major.  

Nayeon, the brat, just points and calls her a friend.

(Later, Nayeon will admit that she would have continued ignoring Momo had she not noticed that Mina’s usually focused eyes were drifting as well.)

Momo takes initiative to elaborate.

“I’m Hirai Momo! It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hello Momo, my name is Myoui Mina.”

“I hope we see each other more often from now on.”

They shake hands.  Momo grips a little tighter, hoping her sincerity is conveyed in actions.  She thinks she feels Mina squeeze back.

Mina’s smile starts shy but Momo’s dumb grin turns it gummy.  This isn’t rare.  Momo had that charm. To her, wide grins and infectious laughter are natural products when speaking, she’s always happy that it affects others as well.

Numbers are exchanged.  Chats go back-and-forth for hours.  A friendship is made.  This is rare.  Mina was not one to go out of her way to start friendships.  To her, they happen consequentially, a product of constant exposure.

 

Months pass.

 

Teasing increases.  Time alone is more frequent.  Flirting becomes common.  A date is set.  This is unique. All romances are. To them, there will be no other Mina or no other Momo to go out with.  Their story will be theirs, and theirs alone—no matter how it goes.

 

It’s a beginning.

 

- 

They kiss on a Tuesday.

It’s the evening, and it’s a cliché.  She walks Mina back to her dorm after another successful date—their sixth in two weeks. They ate Jokbal (Momo’s favorite thing), and spent hours in the arcade (Mina’s favorite thing).  Nothing went wrong.  It was practically perfect in the eyes of the very willing participants.

Mina turns to face her as they stand outside her dorm building.  The minutes are ticking closer towards curfew but Mina’s hand remains snuggly in Momo’s firm grasp.  The moonlight works beautifully to illuminate the perfect planes of her stunning face.  For a moment, Momo is breathless.  For longer, Momo is speechless.

Because Mina steps closer, and soft lips cover her own.  This kiss is slippery with the gloss they both put on, but the same thing makes it taste like the sweetest desert.  Their hands are still clasped together, tighter than before.  Mina’s eyes remain closed when Momo pulls away, so she leans back in before they flutter open.

Mina becomes her girlfriend that same evening.

 

Sana’s eyes are bright and happy as they stare at Momo, who was munching noisily on a bag of chips while recounting the story.  In true Momo-fashion, she’s slumped on the couch and talks with her mouth full but Sana is too used to it to get annoyed.

Her best friend asks if her foot ‘popped’, and Momo stops her lazy chewing to look up at her confusedly.  She listens as Sana talks of fireworks in heads, stars behind eyelids, and butterflies in stomachs.  

(There was none of that kissing Mina.  All she felt was warmth. Warmth and comfort. It felt right. It felt easy.)

Momo neither confirms nor denies.  However, there is conviction in her voice when she tells Sana that she has a good feeling about where they’re headed.

Sana’s features soften the way they always do when she thinks of her girlfriend Dahyun, as she looks Momo in the eye and tells her that everyone deserves their own amazing love story.  

(Sana takes it as a good sign when Momo softens the same way when she thinks of Mina.)

 

It’s a beginning.

 

-

They say I love you on a Wednesday.

Again, it’s nothing special.  It’s quiet, and simple but it makes both their hearts pound, and puts them both at ease by calming thoughts that had been racing through their minds.  It’s still absolutely perfect to the both of them.

(Jeongyeon makes fun of Momo for weeks for planning to stage numerous elaborate situations for the moment, but then ending up having it slip out.)

It’s finals week.  Mina and Momo sit in the library.  Mostly, they’re ignoring each other because they’re in completely different majors.  Momo does not need to know anything about Principles of Finance from Mina when her brain is already full with text about Social Psychology.  However, Mina’s brow furrows so Momo asks what’s wrong.  They aren’t studying for the same thing. She can’t help.

 

Fact: Nayeon is sitting somewhere else in the library.

Evidence: The stalker-photo she sent an hour ago of the couple along with a winky face.

 

Fact: Nayeon and Mina have the same majors.

Evidence: She’ll always remember her first conversation with Myoui Mina.  Even the indirect one that came before it.

 

Momo offers to call her friend so Mina can transfer to her.  Nayeon is usually as spacey as Momo is when it comes to reviewing for exams so she is definitely with friends studying the same thing.

This time, it’s different for Momo.  

She puts in the effort because she wants to make Mina proud.  (She also wants to spend all the time in the world with her, even if they don’t speak.)  She can’t change completely though—so they’re sitting in the Social Sciences section instead of Management because Mina is mostly done reviewing.  (Unlike her girlfriend, she started weeks ago.  This is the last subject she wants to get perfect.)

It surprises her when Mina shakes her head.  She’s usually a meticulous reviewer.  Momo’s really only ever seen her brave enough to start a conversation when she watches her hound classmates to cross-reference notes, or hunt down teachers to clarify lessons.

It must show on her face because her girlfriend blushes.  It’s a bright red that rises from her neck to her ears.  She speaks softly (softer than usual because they’re sitting in the library, and surrounded by students with fragile sanities), and Momo probably would not hear her if she wasn’t always listening out for the sound of her voice.

“I’ll figure it out.  I want to stay with you.”

Apparently, it’s different for Mina as well.

Momo can’t stop herself.

_“I love you.”_

It’s a confession that is surprisingly quiet coming from the slightly older girl but it’s fitting given the recipient.

(They’re opposites that have been trying to learn each other’s language).

Mina seems to always be listening out for her as well because the gummy, shiny smile that grows on her face shows that she heard despite the unexpected volume.

Mina leans forward and pecks Momo on the nose because that’s all she can reach at first.  She tries again and this time, Momo leans too because with teamwork, they can get it done.  Mina mumbles back _‘I love you, too’_ against her, and they can each feel the grins stretching across their faces.

They hold hands when they separate.  It’s a little hard keeping their books open, but they manage.

Momo ends up calling Nayeon anyway.  She wants to give all the best for her love, and that includes helping her in whatever subject for her grades.  Instead of having Mina move, she annoys her friend enough to have her move to them.  When she gets to their table, Nayeon rolls her eyes at their hands clasped tightly together but takes a seat anyway.

“If I hear kissing noises I _will_ walk away.”

The couple giggles but nods anyway.  They’re holding hands and for now, it’s good enough.

Even if all she can hear is Management terms, and it jumbles with the words she scans on her textbooks, Momo stays calmer than she thinks she’s ever been.  Mina’s hand squeezes hers in apology when she notices that Momo has turned back a page again, instead of forward.  Momo squeezes back because she really doesn’t mind.

 

It’s a beginning.

 

-

They move in together on a Thursday.

It’s the logical next step.  They’ve both graduated from college, and they’ve been dating for a while (two years).   They both want to work in the city, and neither of them want to stay too far away from each other.

(They were used to being so close they could walk to each other before and after class, and steal kisses under trees and inside empty classrooms.)

They stay with their parents for the first few months, because for once they have no schedules and their parents have been without them for the majority of four years.

They still meet up for dates.  Instead of coffee in between classes, it’s coffee after touring buildings.  They hold hands in townhouses, studios, and penthouses; but they share a kiss in the middle of a bare two-bedroom on the fifth floor of a non-descript building.  Mina’s parents have had savings for her future since forever, but Mina wants a start that is entirely hers and Momo’s.

 

Their home is simple, and cozy.  

Mina and Momo both get jobs on different sides of town.  This ends the era where they see each other more hours of the day than when they don’t but it makes their time together sweeter.  During the hours in-between they still text each other constantly.  Momo sends her dumb jokes while Mina reminds her to eat proper meals.

At the end of the day they end up back together, and at the beginning of the next the process restarts.  They wake up to each other’s grins in the morning, and fall asleep with kisses pressed upon lips in the evening.

They fight over take-out, and make up on top of furniture.  Mina learns of late-night fast food runs, and scheduled TV-time, and Momo learns of early morning cooking, and monthly cleaning days.

Momo calls it ‘adulting’ when her and Mina sit on the floor, their backs resting against the couch as they try to figure out taxes.  The sound of Mina’s laughter that tinkles in her ears gets louder as she leans in closer to kiss her cheek.

Their friends come over often to steal food, or really just to bother them.  Sana loves stealing their spot on the couch to cuddle with Dahyun, Jeongyeon loves raiding their fridge, Nayeon however, loves grabbing their hands to pull them out of their apartment and into the outside world.

They have fun with friends but a lot of the time it’s just the two of them.  Mina and Momo and their comfortable cream-colored couch.  The TV on, and their feet tucked underneath them.

 

It’s a beginning.

 

-

They break up on a Tuesday because life throws you lemons at unpredictable times.  

As much as she would have liked to believe otherwise, there wasn’t anything special about them.  They didn’t have a love written in the stars.  Theirs wasn’t a beautiful poem to be written and read about.  From start to finish, they didn’t even have the dramatics to become at least an Oscar-winning film.

At best, they were a pretty good cable drama with a decent ending.

They both see the break-up coming weeks before it actually happens.  For years, their habits were still unconscious actions of their minds and hearts working to care for the other.  Suddenly though, a flip was switched, and their hearts moved in separate directions while they were planting their feet in the sand.  Habits born from being drawn to each other like magnets became the routine of a day-to-day life.  Automatic actions like programmed robots.

On a Monday night, Momo feels tears fall onto her collarbone as Mina cries.  She thinks about the dinner they had a few hours ago (their first one together in weeks) and the awkward silence that filled the room, and holds Mina tighter in understanding.  Mina freezes (Momo feels more than hears the shuddering breath she takes), but eventually breaks down in Momo’s arms.  The tears against her skin are replaced by mutters of ‘I’m sorry’ repeated over and over until Momo never wants to hear those words again.  In the darkness, she cries along silently.

On a Tuesday morning, Momo steps into a kitchen smelling of bacon.  Mina stands in the middle in a faded pink penguin-print apron.  A smile lights up Momo’s entire face, but Mina’s falters when the eyes that would usually sparkle for her, were now solely focused on the plates on the table.  Her sweet Momo is still Momo though so later, she faces Mina with still sparkling eyes and embraces her in a warm hug.  (They both notice later that neither even thought of leaning in for a kiss.) They choose not to talk about the night before, instead trading stories and plans for their day.  It feels a little bit like what was supposed to be normal to them. This meal is leagues better than the last, but neither can shake the thought that there’s something still off about the entire situation.

Mina serving home-cooked breakfast still made Momo smile but no longer made her heart flutter.  Momo holding Mina at night still felt safe but no longer made her heart feel full.

They both have routines that they’ve grown used too. The need to learn about things together is no longer there.  

They still wake up to each other’s smiles in the morning but the brightness of their grins has dimmed.  

(The kisses pressed upon lips in the evening have almost altogether disappeared.)

On a Tuesday evening, they sit together on the couch.  Momo’s favorite show is playing on the television, and Mina is underneath her favorite blanket.  Their hands are clasped across them, but neither are gripping as if they didn’t want to let the other go.  

It’s Mina’s voice that breaks the silence between them.

“let’s break up.”

Her voice is as soft as it has always been.  Her tone still soothes her ears.  

If Momo hadn’t been listening, her imagination could trick her into thinking she’d said ‘I love you’.

But she had.  She’s still always listening out for the sound of her voice.  It was routine after all.

Her heart doesn’t break but it does throb with pain.  (Five) Years of a love that filled her heart was coming to an end, and Momo is sad that it’s the only action that feels right.  She wishes she could pinpoint a moment when things changed, so that she could find a way to turn things back to what was right and familiar.  

That can’t happen though.

“i—yeah.  that seems fair.”

It’s fumbled, and awkward, and such a Momo response that it makes Mina laugh despite everything.  It’s a quiet ending.  Just like every aspect of their relationship, it’s perfect to them. Mina and Momo are two individuals who still loved each other, but were no longer _in_ love with each other.  It was time to let go.

They turn and their eyes meet.  Both are glossy and red-rimmed but neither think it right to reach out and wipe the other’s tears away.

 

“I’ve learned a lot from you, Myoui Mina.”

“Thank you for being the perfect girlfriend, Hirai Momo.”

 

Fact: There is no tomorrow for Mina and Momo.

Evidence: Mina lets go of her hand.  Momo lets her.

 

Mina stands from the couch before Momo’s show ends.  The actors laugh as she walks towards the bedrooms.  She goes into the one for guests.  

Momo continues watching.  It’s the season finale.

 

It’s an ending.

 

- 

Their lease ends the next Monday.

Momo moves into Jeongyeon’s spare room, while Mina stays with her parents.  They both spend their free time apartment hunting.  Separately, of course.

Mina had moved out two days after they had broken up, so Momo is in charge of closing things up.  She stares at the bare apartment with a small smile on her face.  For a moment, she lets herself look back.  She hears the sounds of her favorite show playing loudly on the television. She smells the scented disinfectant Mina uses when she cleans.  For a moment, she feels the couch behind her back, and Mina’s hand in hers.

Every corner was tainted with memories that, to her, were beautiful in their simplicity.  Here she was loved, and she loved in return.  They were not epic, but they were real. And really, that’s all that mattered to Momo.

But just like Sana had said, everyone deserves their own amazing love story—this wasn’t theirs.  

It must be time for them to find it.

 

Momo turns around, and shuts the lights.

The click of the door closing follows shortly after.

 

It’s a beginning.

 

-

 

 

BONUS: 

Jihyo stares wide-eyed at the drunk figure rambling semi-coherently in front of her.  “You’ve been in love with her this whole time?!”

Nayeon shrugs.  She’s always loved peaches.

 

Now _this_ was an award-winning plot twist.

 

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was inspired by love scenario by ikon because it really is one of my favorite songs now
> 
> i'm sorry i broke mimo up ;-; but love scenario is a break-up song that was so comforting in its lyrics that i wanted a story based off of it. i hope the story wasn't sad despite the way it ended :c


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